Insurance backed warranties

It is a requirement of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (DCLG) that Electrical Contracting Enterprises are in a position to offer clients an Insurance Backed Warranty for ALL ‘notifiable’ work as defined in part P of the Building Regulations 2000 of England and Wales; (subject to a minimum value of such work).

In layman’s terms, this requirement will cover any new circuits, and any alterations/additions to existing circuits in the kitchen, bathroom, outside the house, and certain other ‘special  locations’,  in ALL ‘dwellings’ in England and Wales.

All Competent Person Scheme Operators authorized by the DCLG to run Part P self-certification schemes MUST ensure that their members are in a position to offer such an Insurance Backed Warranty to their customers….this is NOT an option.

The DCLG have determined that, as a minimum, the Warranty given to end users (house owners etc) should have the following cover:-

• Cover to be for a minimum of 6 years from completion of the work. (Most insurers will insist that the first 12 months are covered by the Contractors own guarantee on the work).
• Cover against any and all non-compliance with the Building Regulations 2000 of England and Wales as appertaining to your electrical installation work. (Which of course includes defective electrical installation work).
• Cover against the original contractor going out of business within the 6 year period of warranty, due to insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation or the winding up of the business on the retirement or death of the principal(s).  (In which case the work would be put right by a contractor appointed by the insurance company and/or the Competent Person Scheme Operator).
• Cover is required for protection of monies on deposit and failure of products/components.
• Cover should be readily assigned to subsequent owners of the property, with claims paid in full up to the limit of indemnity.
• There should be no excess to be paid by the insured. 

BSI have made arrangements with HPL Corporate Risk Solutions Ltd for them to offer all Electrical Installer Kitemark Licensees a suitable Insurance Backed Warranty on their ‘notifiable’ domestic electrical installation work which will ensure compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations 2000 of England and Wales and the DCLG.

It is not incumbent upon Kitemark Licence holders to join the HPL Scheme, and FSA rules prohibit BSI from advising electrical enterprises which insurance is best for them, however, the electrical enterprise MUST ensure that they obtain at least the minimum cover detailed above. The fact that a Kitemark Licence holder has a suitable Warranty in place will be checked at their annual surveillance visit.

It should be noted that none of the Insurance premium payable by the contractor will go to BSI.

Please note that, for ‘notifiable work’ jobs the Electrical Contractor should therefore give to their customers:-

• The Warranty Certificate or a warranty information letter
• The Building Regulations Certificate
• The Electrical Installation Cert. or the Minor Works Cert. for the work carried out, as appropriate

For work which is NOT ‘notifiable work’, (i.e. work comprising of additions/alterations only to circuits in parts of the dwelling which are NOT listed in the opening paragraphs), the Electrical Contractor need only give the customer the relevant ‘electrical’ certificate.

Existing Kitemark Licence holders of the Electrical Installers Scheme can obtain more information, and a direct link to the HPL website, by logging in as a member and going to the ‘Information’ section.

For further information about the Kitemark for electrical installers scheme, please Contact Us.